Hey Majora: The Curse of the Mask REWRITE
by Helga G. Pataki
Summary: Rewritten. Helga get's her hands on the mask of born of evil, but is all as it seems or is there more to what lies behind the mask.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Majora**

**Prologue: The Mayor's trouble**

**Scene 1: Troubled Heroes**

**A/N-Alright then, I'm reposting this story. I went back and reread what I myself had written and I didn't like what I read, so I did what I thought was best, I took it down and now I'm reposting the new version. I had a bunch of ideas with what I wanted to do with the story and I didn't have everything planned through as well as I liked. So now you get a newer more involved and interesting version. (IMO) One of the biggest things that I'm changing about this though would be the inclusion of an interesting little treat for you in the scene breaks, I hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer-I don't own Hey Arnold, The legend of Zelda, or any of the music that I advertise herein. All I own is the idea for the story; and I know to take it down if anybody gets bitchy about it. :P**

**Musical mentions – Another addition to the story is the mention of songs that I think might go well with the chapter. Clocktown second day goes well with this scene in my opinion, especially if you can find one with the pitter-patter of rain in the background.**

The fairgrounds of Hillwood had transformed over the last few days. The rides and stands were masked by a huge big-top tent, awaiting the approach of the carnival. It was to be a celebration the city had never seen the likes of before, commemorating the day there houses were saved. It had been a full year, one full year since Scheck had been hauled away in hand-cuffs, one full year since the bulldozers were stopped just short of their houses, one full year since they were almost forced to say good bye to one another. Well, almost.

"Three more days Arnold; then we get to live it up with the party of a lifetime," stated one of two boys standing outside the fairgrounds. He had dark skin, just a few shades lighter then the hair that stood tall in an afro that seemed to defy the laws of physics. He wore a red shirt emblazoned with the number thirty-three, similar to a sports jersey. He held a look on his face that screamed of his excitement.

"It's like we get our own celebration once a year." He beamed inwardly at the memory. It had been there doing that they had something to celebrate. It had been them that had saved the neighborhood from its fate after all. His best friend didn't share in his enthusiasm though.

"I'm not looking forward to it." The boy that spoke had a sour look plastered on his face. Said face rested on what should be labeled as the eighth wonder of the world; a head in the shape of a football. He wore a blue shirt and red plaid one underneath that extended farter down. The extra length closely resembled that of a skirt. His friend just stared at him with a weird look on his face.

"You can't be serious Arnold. This party is practically for us. We were the ones that saved the neighborhood, after all." Gerald eyed his friend's actions. He'd been acting weird as the day came closer and closer.

"It just reminds me of what almost happened. We were so close to failing, Gerald. If it hadn't been for deep-voice, we would have. We would've been separated, pulled to different parts of the state, or even the country. I don't like being reminded of what almost happened, and I really don't like being treated as a hero when we weren't the ones that did the hard stuff. Deep-voice figured out where we needed to go. She took just as many, if not more risks then we did, and she's not even getting an honorable mention in the mayor's little speech." Arnold sighed at his explanation. His voice had remained fairly monotonous until he mentioned deep-voice, then it started to raise it a little bit. He had to leave things out. Leave out Helga's involvement, about how she and deep voice was the same person, and about what she said to him in the "heat of the moment."

"That's what's bothering you? Then I think I have just the fix come on, I know just the person we should talk to." He grabbed Arnold's arm and began leading him into the fairgrounds. They remained open to the general public, despite the various renovations. The mayor had stated it was safe and the public was free to see the progress they were making.

The changes were apparent. There was a huge big-top surrounding a building that was being constructed in the center of the fair-grounds, the mayor promised to have a grand unveiling at the carnival itself. The big-top was surrounded with a number of smaller tents that housed a number of small shops and food stands. Rides were not in short demand. There were roller coasters, tilt-a-whirls, pirate ships, and a single Ferris wheel that rivaled the height of the big-top in the center. From its height you could probably see the entire carnival.

The path that Gerald led his best friend down eventually led them to the foot of the big-top. It was the only thing that no one was allowed to see. The mayor wanted to make sure that it was a surprise for everyone, so she masked it and set guards to make sure no one snuck in. There was a fence set with barbed wire just outside the perimeter of the big-top. A guard post could be seen every little while or so, but there was one that was bigger than the rest. That was the main outpost and it was from that outpost that ran security throughout the entire park. It also held a certain elected official. One Arnold had gotten to know better in recent months.

He had come to him for aide in election. It was his intent to run on a platform that used his predecessor's activities in the Scheck scandal against her. Arnold outright refused at first, though he didn't really like how his predecessor did things, he didn't want to be used for political purposes at the age of twelve. Grandpa sent him packing quite quickly.

Then the election itself started, incumbent (Phoebe taught me that) was far more persistent. She left frequent messages on the answering machine, sent aides, and even came to see him herself a few times. It got to the point where Grandpa began looking for a guard dog or something, but it was Helga that helped me, to my own disbelief.

"_Look, Football Head, you need to figure out a way to fix this so you can stop griping about it. You complain to Gerald, then Geraldo complains to Pheebs, and then Pheebs complains to me. I find it fascinating that your troubles seem to always trickle down, but it's annoying me. So stop it with your goody-goody neutral standpoints and pick a side already. I'd personally go for the one that's not bugging me."_

"_I don't exactly agree with everything he wants to do though. I mean, I don't really agree with the way the other one does things, but I agree with her policies and stuff." Helga rolled her eyes._

"_You always spend so much time trying to see the good in people that you overlook the bad. You should think things through, or is there just vacant space in that football shaped head of yours. The mayor that we have doesn't really do anything anyway. Most of what she does is posturing and grandstanding." Helga was getting closer to me as she talked. "Come on, you helped Mr. Green get elected as our districts legislator. This shouldn't be that big of a deal for you football head."_

Arnold mulled over the words and played them again and again in his head. He usually just let the stuff that Helga told him go in one ear and out the other, but whenever she got serious about something, Arnold was willing to listen, mainly because she gave decent advice when she got like this.

What she said rang true in Arnold's mind the previous mayor was more show and less action. She wore a mask and put on a show for the public, and it seemed that that was all that she did, and it was this kind of thinking that led me around to helping our new mayor out, with a few ground rules of course. Thanks to that, Arnold became good friends with the current mayor, a feat that let him get into the main guard outpost and actually talk to the man.

_Scene Break: The Mayor's Office from Majora's Mask_

_I enter the room and realize why no one has come to the mayor for help. The room is littered with carpenters and soldiers, debating over what should be done. Mutoh, leader of the Carnival committee and Captain Viscen, commanding officer of the Clocktown sentry were the most pronounced, but you could hear the many squabbles between the two organizations. The mayor sat at his desk, at a loss for what to do._

"_Most of the townsfolk already have taken shelter without waiting for the mayors orders. The only ones left are public servants and committee members…" He paused before continuing. Mutoh had a way of getting his point across quite forcefully in a debate. He cleared his throat and continued retaining as much confidence as possible. "Mr. Mayor and Carnival Committee Members, please order those who remain to evacuate!"_

"_I… uhh…well…" the mayor's thoughts were interrupted by Mutoh's rebuttal._

"_You cowards! Do you actually believe that the moon will fall?" Mutoh raised his voice at the soldier before him. "The confused townsfolk simply caused a panic by believing this ridiculous groundless theory. The soldiers couldn't prevent the panic, but outside the town walls is where the real danger is! You want answers? It's that the carnival should not be canceled!" Mutoh turned his head to face the Mayor. "Isn't that right, Mr. Mayor?"_

"_Ah… well… uhmmm…" He was yet again interrupted by the rambunctious crowd, this time by Viscen._

"_Are you serious Mutoh?" Any and all lost confidence was gained back in a heartbeat. He stood before the chairman with a rekindled fire in his eyes. "I would seem that giant hunk of rock above hasn't caught your eye! At this time of year, we are overrun with tourists! So why is the town empty? Clearly it's your job to insure the carnivals operation, but that's if the people are here for it! Don't drag the merchants and soldiers into this."_

"_Uhh…Yes…Well…" yet again, interrupted. _

"_If the soldiers wish to run then run, Viscen! We council members will stick to tradition!" His voice had been raised even higher. The vein in his head was beginning to visibly throb. "This carnival will be a success! I've never heard of a defense unit abandoning its town! Madame Aroma would surely say the same thing wouldn't she, Mayor Dotour?" The mayor spoke clearly for the first time throughout the meeting._

"…_Let's not bring my wife into this." The two continued arguing as the mayor sighed in frustration. It is at this time that I realize that I should come back._

**Scene 2: Cutting through the Red Tape**

**Musical Mentions – Majora's Mask: House. Type that into YouTube and it should be the first one you see.**

"Name?" asked the guard.

"Arnold."

"Gerald. Shouldn't you know us by now, Mike?"

"Standard procedure, you're obviously on the list of people that are allowed to see him, but you may want to come back in a bit. He's in a meeting." He continued staring at his clipboard. Mike opened the gate to the main building. "You're free to wait inside though."

"Thanks." was the collaborative response of both Arnold and Gerald. They ventured in, hoping they wouldn't be long. When they got to the familiar area that was the waiting room, they were met with the mayor's formal assistant, Gary Reeves. He was fresh out of Hillwood University and very good friend of Arnold.

"Hey Arnold, you here to see Mayor Donovan? He said you didn't have to come in the days leading up to the carnival." Arnold just smiled.

"It isn't for that Gary. Could you just buzz him to let us know were here."

"Sure thing, could you just wait for a few minutes? The person the mayor is meeting is fairly important to the carnival." He motioned for Arnold and Gerald to sit in the waiting room. "You'll be waiting with the committee mans daughter. She's an interesting person, but a little short-tempered."

"Thanks. Does she have a name?" Gerald was the one to push the subject.

"I asked, but she said it was none of my beeswax and stormed into the waiting room." Arnold stiffened to the response. 'No way.' Walking through the door they heard a very familiar retort.

"Hey there, football head." Helga was sitting in the corner of the room with a magazine titled 'Wrestlemania, Editorialized.' She wore her usual pink bow and dress, hair split into her two usual ponytails. Outside of the extra inches she grew, nothing had really changed about the scowling bully over the last year, at least not physically. She had gotten a lot nicer as fifth grade went on, though she still pulled a number of pranks. "So what are you two chuckleheads in for? I thought Arnold was off from his saving the world crusade."

"If you must know, Arnold here wanted to ask the mayor to change something about the speech he was giving at the festival in a few days. He wanted to add a special mention to someone who didn't get named for the salvation of our little neighborhood." Helga's face went a little pale at the mention of their cause. 'He wouldn't dare.'

"Heck while we're at it, we might as well mention you. You were there to help at the end." The second response made Helga raise an eyebrow. 'There was someone else?'

"I KNEW there wasn't a snowball's chance in Florida that you morons couldn't do it by yourselves. So who else did you rope in? Was it Phoebe? No she'd tell me. Lila's to ditzy… uh, oh did Curly to calm down enough to si-"

"We don't know who she is."Arnold brought her out of her little guessing game. "She called herself Deep Voice. She came to us through a pay-phone and a voice masker and told us everything we needed to know to take down Scheck. She deserves a mention at the celebration, even if she wants to stay hidden. It's not like she'll be known, just her alias." Helga felt like slapping herself for how big of an idiot she was being.

'Of course he didn't tell Geraldo, over here. He'll probably keep the secret of what happened there with him till judgment day and the trumpets sound.' Helga chuckled a little bit at the thought but turned away dejectedly for a few seconds. 'That'll probably be when he tells me that he has feelings for me. We said 'heat of the moment, but no one is that dense, especially after a year or so to actually think about it.'

"She should know how grateful everyone is, I know I am." She raised her head to see the smiling gaze of her football-headed compatriot. 'Is he…?' Gerald looked like he was about to say something when the door to the mayor's office burst open, revealing a very annoyed Big Bob Pataki. The large man was grumbling something about an 'annoyingly persistent midget' as he walked over to Helga.

"Come on girl, we're leaving." Helga's scowl had returned to her face as she got up. Bob was completely oblivious to anyone else, and he barely gave her a glance.

"Why am I here with you again?"

"Blame your mother and that whole 'quantity time' she always seems to talk about. Now move it missy we got a lot of ground to cover today." He stormed out of the office as his daughter begrudgingly followed, barely giving a wave of goodbye to her classmates, a wave that neither of them were even expecting. They averted there gaze to the now open door.

"The mayor will see you now, Arnold."

**End Scene**

_It was bugging me, I knew he was busy with the bickering in his office, but I had to at least ask. Maybe the Father knew more than the mother. I approached the desk of the Mayor Mask in tow. He has to know something, he just has to. I wore the mask of Kefei and ask the standard question._

"_Have you seen him anywhere? Please, I don't need to tell you how important it is." The mayor looked shocked at the sudden appearance of his son's face in his office. "Please, you have to know something, surely."_

"_I…I…" was all he could stammer. You could begin to make out the pleading in my voice. The rest of the office was too engrossed in their argument to notice. They just carried on as though nothing else was happening. The mayor was more focused on me than them though. _

"_I promise not to report back what you say to Madame Aroma." That seemed to instill a small amount of confidence in the man. _

"_Try the owner of the curiosity shop. That's all I can say." I beamed behind the mask. _

"_Thank you. Thank you so much." I left the office in a hurry. The mayor had a brief smile cross his lips before he returned to business as usual._

**Scene 3: Meet the Mayor**

**Musical Mentions - Mayor's Office Theme. This one actually has an extended version. Type extended after Majora's Mask – Mayor's Office Theme and it should be the first one. (YouTube again)**

His office was quite different then what people expected. He had made it a point of almost making this place his second home as opposed to working in the oversized office at the capitol. It was small. It was just big enough for the desk and chair; with a little room for moving in and out of the area. The desk had a myriad of papers that all seemed to need immediate attention, the ones pertaining to the carnival's security and construction were on top, bills awaiting approval were next, complaints were stacked off to the side, and the budget drafts were off to the other side of his desk. They harrowed high enough to make the man behind the desk seem short, even shorter then what he actually was.

Mayor Donovan was a fairly short man, only about a foot taller than Helga. He wore a face was fairly stern with eyes that seemed devoid of tension. He wasn't scary, but he wasn't the person you wanted to oppose in an argument, a trait that made him a fairly good mayor. Most people thought that stern face was his true face, Arnold knew better. He was much nicer with Arnold, as well as many other people that knew him well enough. Out of the office he was far more sociable. He was always formal, it seemed, whether it was in the office or not. He always dressed in a black suit and tie. Depending on the mood he was in, with the people that didn't know him, it looked like he was either going to a wedding or a funeral.

Despite his various quirks, Arnold enjoyed hanging out with the new mayor. Helping with paperwork, filing and taking complaints from people, many around the offices had started calling him the mayor's assistant. He didn't like asking much from him, mainly because he knew how busy he was, but this was something that Gerald insisted on, claiming it would make him feel better.

Despite his various quirks, Arnold enjoyed hanging out with the new mayor. Helping with paperwork, filing and taking complaints from people, many around the offices had started calling him the mayor's assistant. He didn't like asking much from him, mainly because he knew how busy he was, but this was something that Gerald insisted on, claiming it would make him feel better. So here they were in the new Mayor's office.

"Hello, my boys. The two of you certainly look well." He was always so cheerful around them. "I hope that my little meeting with the blowhard didn't force you to wait too long. He can be so infuriating sometimes."

"What was he here to talk about?" Gerald asked. The two of them sat in a pair of chairs in front of the mayor's desk. The mayor sighed before responding.

"Many of the stands outside belong to private businesses and as such pay a fairly hefty price for having something open here. Thanks to this, we deal with our fair share of blowhards. That one in particular seems to show up regularly to complain about not know what's under the big-top. 'I paid good money for that spot and I feel it should be my right to know what's being showcased just down the street.' Annoying as all heck. I'd normally tell my guards not to let him through but he tricked me using his daughter as a means of entry."

"So you're sticking to your guns about not letting anyone see the surprise till the 'big unveiling' then?" Gerald asked dejectedly.

"Yes, and I sincerely hope you didn't come to ask to see it to. I have a higher opinion of your morals then that." Arnold spoke up to their defense.

"He's just curious, and no that's not why we're here. We wanted to have you change your commemoration speech at the great unveiling a little bit." He stared at Arnold slightly annoyed.

"What is it this time? I've reduced it to just an honorable mention of you and Gerald and some of that political pomp that seems standard to any speech. I can't trim it down anymore."

"It's not that. We actually want you to add something." The mayor's mouth hung agape for a few seconds before his annoyed look intensified.

"Look, if the two of you are getting swelled heads, I'm throwing you out of he…"

"We want to add someone else." Gerald interrupted the mayor mid threat. "This person told us where to go, how to get there, what to do, and threw in a backup plan when the first one fell through." Gerald grinned. "These are Arnold's words, not mine, and I don't think he's telling me everything." The last statement is said in a hushed tone. Gerald is close to the mayor with a hand hiding his mouth as he says it to the mayor. Arnold rolls his eyes at friend's pathetic attempt at secrecy before continuing where Gerald left off.

"We just wanted to add her cause it didn't feel right to exclude anyone from being honored if you're honoring this day. I mean, if you included everyone, it'd probably sound like some cheesy kids' movie, but she was an important part of the neighborhood's salvation, even if she was hiding who she was." Gerald gave his friend a quick quirk of the eyebrow before Mayor Donovan spoke.

"So how should I add this mystery savior to the speech? I'm assuming you didn't want me to give the name of this individual, so what alias did this person go by?"

"Deep-voice," Gerald replied.

"Whoever it is watches to many old movies. Let me guess she had the trench coat and voice changer, probably decided to call you using phone-booths, that sort of thing." The mayor had a slightly amused look on his face.

"Yep, corny as heck, but she did help."

"Well alright then boys. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No we wouldn't want to keep you from your work."

"Keep me from it, I'm begging you. You guys give me an excuse to brush my paperwork onto my assistant in there." The mayor had a pleading look in his eyes as he stared at the mounds of work on his desk.

"I think we'll just be stepping out now." Said Gerald quietly; the mayor turned stood and turned away as he started his monologue.

"They don't tell you about this stuff when you run you know. 'Oh you'll be a great candidate, just sign right here, campaign start's next week.' I think the next word out of his mouth was sucker after I left." He never noticed Gerald and Arnold slowly and carefully slipping out of the mayor's office, until he heard a small clunk the door made as they closed the door. He turned to find that the only thing left in his room to keep him company was his paper work. He cried a little bit over his desk.

**End Scene**

_ I stare up at the moon. As it bears down closer to the clock tower, I see Mutoh by the incomplete tower in the center of town that was supposed to lead to the tower entrance. The southern exit has a guard posted, diligently remaining at his post. Do they not see the moon overhead. The clock strikes twelve, the fireworks go off, the clock tower transforms itself into a lookout to see town. It was a beautiful display. I look back to see that both have now fled. There's no way they'll clear the blast in time._

**Scene 4: Whoops… **

**Musical Mentions-Clock Tower Theme-More for a symbolic theme than anything else; It played when you first met the Happy Mask salesman so why not. **

Arnold and Gerald left the office in a hurry, giving a brief goodbye to Mike and Gary before leaving the compound. They stopped just outside the outpost gate. Gerald breathed a sigh of relief before voicing his opinion on what happened. "That was close. We almost got caught in one of his 'woe is me' speeches."

"He's not **that **bad, Gerald. Besides, he's inclined to be a little on edge, considering his glorified public work project is three days away."

"I guess, but I still refuse to stay around when he starts getting like that." He stopped walking and looked around in a confused manor. "Where are we?"

Arnold took a quick glance around and noticed that they were in a new part of fairgrounds, at least he was assuming so, because nothing looked familiar to him. Before them stood a small building with four different entrances, one on each wall. Shadowing the entrance stood a sign depicting the name of the small building as the same one that caught his interest in paperwork he was doing for Mayor Donovan. "The Happy Mask Shop, Where All Your Fantasies Become Reality" The name was draped in a white and black paint, switching between the two colors with each letter. He remembered the location they were now in from the paperwork and new that the exit was fairly close.

"Follow me Gerald. I know a–Oof." He never got a chance to finish his sentence. He ran face first into a man carrying more masks then he could carry.

"Ohhh, not good not good not good; why did I take so many at once, now he's going to be so annoyed with me." The girl frantically got to his feet, and grabbing each of the masks she dropped and started sorting them into two piles. She looked a little older then Arnold, but not by much. He had long hair that masked his face in long lengths of black.

Arnold shakily got back to his feet. "I am so sorry about that." The girl looked up quickly and his mood seemed to pull a one-eighty.

"Don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault I should've been watching where I was going." Arnold could see some eyes and a face poke through as she looked up. She had purple eyes and an expression that was trying to mask her worry.

"Still, let me help. Gerald, could you give me a hand."

"Sure thing," Gerald picked up the mask at his feet and gave a weird look. "Man this thing is creepy."

"My dad kind of has a thing for tribal masks. He has a few dozen in his collection. He collects them from all over the world, believe it or not. He uses the original as a display and makes copies to sell to people." She said looking closely at the masks. "Oh it's no good I can't tell them apart." The mask fell and her face returned to the same frantic state that it had when she first fell.

"Just use one in the display, I can't tell them apart any better than you can."

"I don't know about that Gerald."

"Why not? Nobody should be able to distinguish these from one another."

"Distinguish?" Arnold asked with a smug look on his face.

"Shut up." Responded Gerald curtly. He placed his rather large pile of masks that he had gathered and placed them on his friend's pile. He snickered as he saw his friend struggle with the larger then normal load, his payback for those annoyingly knowing comments.

"I'll take some of those. I don't want a repeat of what happened with me." She masked a giggle at their exchange as she took half of the load. Arnold shot a glare at Gerald, who proceeded to whistle innocently. "If you insist on helping then follow me."

The inside of the shop was quite small. Masks littered the ground, each more realistic then the last. It was as if someone's very soul was placed in each one, which Gerald found creepy. In the back there was a single table with a cash register on top. Above it stood a sign that said, _'If you want to see a man's true colors, give him a mask to wear.'_

The girl sat a mask down on the center of a table that had four other mask's, one of a fish head, one of a worm with pincers, one of a mechanized nature, and one of a tribal nature. She grabbed the rest and put them in the bin below.

"There, thanks for the help. They were really being a pain."

"Don't mention it. Me and Gerald aren't in a hurry anyway."

"Gerald and I" Gerald corrected.

"What, grammar to. Next thing I know you'll be shrink down to half your size and take a liking to blue sweaters."

"Yeah, and you're going to develop a weird attachment to pink clothing. Since you've been trying to hang around Helga more she's started wearing off on you, and not in a good way."

"True, but her treatment of me's been reduced to simple name calling." They started to tune out there surroundings. They didn't even notice a man enter the shop. He wore purple and had this grin plastered onto his face.

"Well, what do we have here?" asked the man as he entered.

"Hi dad, these two helped me bring some of the masks in when we ran into each other. I believe their names are Arnold and Gerald."

"Well, pleased to meet you. I apologize for the mess, we haven't gotten everything in its proper place yet. It'll look great when we finish." The smile never left his face. Both Arnold and Gerald were getting a little wierded out as they talked. "Be sure to come by when we open, I'm sure we could arrange a discount for the two of you."

"Thanks Mr. uhh… what was your name again?" inquired Gerald. They never got a name from him or the girl and it was getting on his nerves.

"Call me H.S. and you've already met my daughter, Skully."

"We'll be open during the festival, so be sure to come by."

"Sure thing, we'll be looking forward to it. Hey Gerald, is it just me or does the big hand on your watch seem to be stopped."

"Uh-oh. We may want to get going. See you both at the festival." They waved as they left leaving a giggling girl in front of the table.

"Well, that certainly was different." They both returned to setting the shop up for the carnival. It was going to be a very big night for them after all.

**End Prologue**

**A/N-Be sure to tell me what you think of the new version. I apologize for being dormant for so long, but college was a bit more then I could handle. I got straight A's though so I can write for the next few weeks with my head held high. I'll update my other story before the end of the week. (Saturday) Oh and any and all OC's are unimportant or not really OC's (except the mayor, maybe).**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey Majora: The Curse of the Mask**

**Chapter 1: Anju's Trouble****: Entry One**

**Scene 1: ****Move, Move! Darn it, I said MOVE!**

**A/N-next chapter up and I have a few things that I want to say before I delve in. First, the names of the chapters are more than likely going to be the troubles from the bombers notebook. This seems fitting given the nature of Arnold. Second, I wouldn't mind getting some feedback. This story will be long (and likely infrequent in updates due to the amount of planning needed.) and I would like to know how I'm doing. Lastly I want to anyone to point out if I have grammar problems. It is a huge pet peeve of mine and despite countless reads, some stuff still gets through. I'll update when I get time off. I suck at multitasking. **

**Disclaimer-It's the season of cheer and good will, but I don't think Craig or Nickelodeon is that giving. As such I don't own Hew Arnold, they do. (Geek-baits for not continuing the thing to)**

**Musical Mentions-Clocktown Third Day**

"Big Bob's been ditched, check, making sure that my name is conspicuously absent from any and all event proceedings, check, finding my football headed love god and asking him to make sure no one but me or him know about what I did, not check." Helga doing damage control to make sure her secrets remained secret was nothing new to the blonde. She knew that she'd probably be sporting gray hairs by the time she was twenty, and for what?

She kept asking herself that, and she kept coming up blank. It kept bringing up unpleasant memories. She debated with herself over whether or not she should just let things fall where they may. The end result wouldn't be so horrid; she kind of already estimated what Arnold thought of her based on his reaction to her confession, he was just to kind to admit it.

'_No I need to stop that line of thought. I'll just wind up depressed and make mistakes. I still have a reputation to maintain among my peers and that will not be compromised.'_ She thought sadly to herself. "All I need is a way to show him the real me. I can't exactly do it decked out in my usual pink bow in pigtails, either. If he's going to notice me, then I can't let him know it's me until after he's had a good time. I know he will too. He was tripping over himself when I posed as that snooty French girl Cecile."

She mentally deflated at that. "Weird how he always likes me when I'm not me." Thinking of when she pretended to be Lila, she started shaking herself out of her pity party. "Well, that going to change after I drag his sorry hide to the carnival." She absolved as she suddenly found an Arnold that was standing on the corner waiting for a bus to show up.

'_Alright Helga ol' girl you can do this, just walk over there and tell him that you want to go to carnival with him, despite what any naysayer from our class think.'_ Her mind was berating her legs, telling them, ORDERING them to move, but they had her insubordinate nature in spades and firmly remained planted on the ground upon which they stood. She watched as Gerald caught up with her love god. She watched as the bus arrived. She watched as they boarded the bus and greeted the bus driver. She watched until the bus decided to leave and then her legs move. _'Stupid, stupid, stupid,'_ was the only thing going through Helga's mind.

_**Scene Break: Kill the postman**_

_I looked at the innkeeper and she looked distracted and distraught over something. The door to the inn opened and in walked the postman with his usual attire; though it looked like the most unusual thing in the world. He pulled out a letter and handed it to Anju. The look of pure shock was evident on her face. She recognized that seal on the envelope. She recognized the hand writing that signed her name on the envelope and she grabbed it faster than my eyes could see._

"_AH! uh uh umm umm. What is this?" She was struggling to find the words to speak._

"_I have delivered this to you!" He's way enthusiastic about his job. He turned to leave._

"_Ah, Wait!" The postman turned to face Anju again. "This letter, Wh-where did you?"_

"_From the Post box," he replied calmly._

"_Th-that's not what I mean! From the postbox where?" she asked biting back her growing frustration. She shows better restraint then I would've shown._

"_From the postbox somewhere." I face palm._

"_That's not what I mean." I decide to leave at this point in time. Thinking of ignoring the section of my notebook dedicated to him._

**Scene 2: A Friend**** Behind the Mask**

Helga sat on a bench just inside the fairgrounds. She told Bob she'd be out for awhile and it was still too soon to return home. She laughed a little for even thinking of that as the word to define that place. Miriam was as stagnant and oblivious to everything else in the world as usual and Bob was dragging her to all of these events of his. She would've loved the fact that he was doing this all voluntarily, but she smelled something fishy. Bob NEVER spent his time with 'the girl' and she couldn't figure out his angle. He still treated her the same; couldn't remember her name, her age, or any other pertinent information that seemed to pertain to her. She eventually just brushed it off as Miriam ordering them to spend 'quantity time' again.

"I need to stop thinking about this stuff, it's depressing." She spoke aloud, thinking no one was around. She looked down and noticed something on the ground by her feet. She went to pick it up and cut her finger on what she believed was a thorn. When she looked closer she saw that it was the end of a mask that drew blood.

She picked it up and took a good look at it. It had the base shape of a heart with spikes extending on the sides of top of the mask. The mask had a multitude of colors from dark blue, to red to green. But what stuck out the most were those eyes. They were the size of soft balls, eyes that would give most people the creeps, but Helga thought that they looked vaguely familiar.

'_Green eyes…'_ she thought, '_same as me…_' She was starting to get lost in those eyes. They just seemed… hypnotizing...

"There you are!" Helga was brought out of her trance to see a girl with long blonde hair running right at her. Her face was hidden behind those long blonde locks, but you could make out to purple eyes. She had never seen this girl in the neighborhood before. '_Is she talking to me?'_ "I've been looking everywhere for you, why did you disappear on me, huh?"

"Who the heck are you?" Helga was looking at this lady like she grew a second head.

"Oh, sorry didn't see you there." Helga was a hairs breath away from going nuclear. Her body was visibly shaking.

"WHAT THE HECK DID YOU SAY TO ME?"

"I said I didn't see you there. My attention was on the mask there, sorry." Her enraged thoughts were slowly starting to ebb away. She was still annoyed, but she knew how easy it was to get lost in those eyes.

"Yeah, whatever, just take the dumb mask and leave me alone." She turned away from the girl with the purple eyes, who grabbed the mask eagerly, but got a worried expression on her face.

"What's wrong, you look like you got stabbed in the gut." She asked worriedly.

"Just go away, alright." What Helga said didn't register though. The other girl saw a small trickle of blood come from her fingers.

"Oh my god! You're bleeding! Oh me and my big mouth, why'd I say that, I need to find my dad, or call 911 or get a med kit or something! Oh why is it that everyone I meet today ends up hurt in some way!" Helga was biting back laughter, she decided to go along with it for a few minutes, and this was too good to pass up.

"Ohhh… the pain… how could you… I never… never did… anything too you…" She was trying to give off the most pathetic voice she could. It worked wonders.

"OHMIGOSHOHMIGOSHOHMYGOSH!" The girl looked like she was hyperventilating. "NO! no no no. I didn't do anything I swear! Oh, you have to tell me what happened! I promise you, I will make it my life's mission to bring those people to justice." She started fishing around in her pockets and pulled out, to Helga's shock, a notebook and a pen.

'_Great, another Phoebe. Well I should wrap this up._' "Well… I was just sitting here… minding my own business…" the girl was frantically writing down every word. '_Pen and paper, three dollars,'_ "When I saw this… mask… lying on the ground…" The girls eyes widened a bit, but she continued to write down every word. '_Band-aid needed, ten cents,' _"When I reached down… to pick it up… I felt a sudden… jab of pain…" The widened eyes were now plate-sized. '_the fact that all of this is true so far, zero dollars,_' "I picked… the mask up… and I noticed… that I had cut my finger on the edge of a spike." My voice returned to normal as I turned to face the girl. '_the look on said girls face, priceless._'

The face was mixed contortion of anger, embarrassment, laughter, shock, and horror, the single most hilarious look Helga had ever seen. Not being able to contain herself any longer, she laughed so hard her sides hurt. "You… should see… the look… on your face! Oh man…" that carried on for a solid ten minutes and various tic marks were apparent what you could see of the girls forehead.

"ALRIGHT ENOUGH IT WASN'T THAT FUNNY YOU ANNOYING PINK BANSHEE!" was the comment that came from purple-eyed girl. It looked a little unnatural to see her yell. Helga stopped laughing immediately and gave her the coldest, most terrifying scowl.

"Alright listen bucko, I'm in a really bad mood today so if you value your life you'll take your mask and go before I lose whatever hold on my anger that I currently have." _'Thank you Dr. Bliss for giving me much control; those little lessons on anger management seem to have paid off.' _Unbeknownst to her the girl seemed mortified at what just came out of her mouth. She perked right up when she heard last few words that came out of her mouth.

"Bad day?" She grabbed the mask and warily began to press the matter. "What happened?"

'_Yep, exactly like Phoebe. To nice for her own good._' "Look it's none of your business, so just take your dumb mask and leave me the heck alone!" Her voice steadily grew as she told the girl to get lost.

'_Don't do anything you might regret, Skully. Just because she doesn't tell you her troubles outright don't mean you can't do anything. Rule 1 of the Bombers – Help anyone and everyone that needs help. I got kicked out once so I need to prove that I'm worth their second chance. Just have to follow her for a bit.'_ "Fine, I'll leave you alone for a bit, _**but**_ I am not taking my mask with me. I want you to come by the shop later and bring it back." She smiled a little bit. '_Doesn't mean I can't enjoy myself a little bit.' _

"What, are you deaf lady? I said…" She trailed off when she saw that the girl with purple eyes had disappeared and the mask lay where she stood. '_That was weird.'_

_**Scene Break: Meeting Anju.**_

_The Post-man left as quickly as he came. Anju read that letter and I saw an emotion that I haven't seen in a while. Not in this town at least; a look of relief and happiness. I walk up thinking that she'd be able to help with Kefei. It looks like they were close, though I'm still wondering whether I should help this 'Madame Aroma'._

"_Hello there, do you have a reservation." Asked the innkeeper. Apparently, I was already at the front desk. I stutter briefly, not expecting the question before she speaks again._

"_Oh, you do have a reservation." she assumed. "Thank goodness." She looked down at her book and handed him a key. "Mr. Link is it? Your room is on the second floor. Please enjoy your stay here at the Stock Pot Inn." I reach out as I grab the key, did the mask salesman set this up? _

_The thought of that man reminded me of my purpose. I pull out the mask of Kafei and show it to her. She gasps and covers her mouth. "You… you're also looking for Kafei?" I nod my head, showing that this is indeed the case. "I have a request. Kafei… I have found a clue… that will help you find him. Tonight… at 11:30… We'll talk then…" I walk out and see a goron making his way to the inn._

"_Greetings, boy, could you tell me where the inn is. I have a reservation and I wanted to hurry up and get there." I freeze. My face goes pale before I ask that all important question._

"_Could you tell me your name, please?" The goron looked thoughtful before smiling. _

"_Your parents probably told you never to talk to strangers, huh? It's Link." My eyes grew wide. _

'_Did I just…' "This is the inn. Right here." The goron thanked me and went inn. I leave before things blow up. 'I feel really bad right now. Meh, I'll give him the key later.' I start walking to the mayor's office when I see something on the ground. It was a crumpled up wedding invitation…_

**Scene Three: What am I, schizophrenic? **

Helga was now aimlessly walking around the fair. She could see the various owners setting up shop. Her eyes kept drifting to the mask in her hands. To the eyes of the mask. '_What the heck are you looking at bub?'_

She mentally slapped herself. '_and now I'm talking to inanimate objects again. You know they can't respond back._'

'_Says who.' _Was the thought that resounded in her mind?

'_Well most individuals don't hear voices… from… masks…' _her thought slowly trailed.

?Huh?

Meanwhile, with Arnold and Gerald.

"Hey Arnold. You hear something?"

"No, why? Did you?"

"It sounded like a little girl screaming in terror somewhere."

"Huh, weird. So I'll see you later." He said as that get to the stoop of the boarding house.

"Yeah see yeah." They part ways.

?What The?

Back with Helga.

Helga had her back pressed against the wall of an unoccupied stand. Everyone in the stands just went on about their business, not wanting to deal with the crazy ten year old in pink. Helga, however, was having a panic attack.

'_Great, just great, now on top of everything else, I've gone and lost whatever was left of my mind. Just keep repeating it over and over again in your head. Masks don't talk. Masks don't talk. Masks don't talk. Masks don't talk.'_ She looked over at the stationary mask and took a deep calming breath.

'_Are ya done? Or are you gonna have another conniption fit.'_ The masks eyes glowed red around the green irises and rattled on the ground for a few seconds. _'After all this time, I'm still too weak to move. That boy in green is so going to die the next time I see him.'_

"Ok then, the voice is not going away, so I guess I'll have to arrange a meeting with Bliss again. She'll probably send me on a one way ticket to the loony bin too."

'_Oh no, you aren't getting rid of me that easily, and why would you want too? I'm the answer to your prayers.' _

"If you say you're my fairy god mother, I'm throwing you in the trash." She laughed under her breath.

'_Oh they wish they could do what I could.' _The red hue faded back down. _'And think your responses or people are going to look at you like you grew a second head.'_

"So what I'm gonna get carted off to the loony bin anyway, why should I care."

'_Hey you gave me the blood, thank you very much, now you want my help or not, you ungrateful pink banshee.'_ Helga just snarled under her breath.

'_What is it with you people today? First that annoying girl with purple eyes and now you. You really aren't making that great of a case for me to keep you.'_ She picks up the mask, being careful not to hurt herself again. According to the mask, that was how she got in this mess in the first place.

'_Hey wait a second, where are we going.'_ The mask asked frantically.

'_To the trash can, where else?__'_ She smiled evilly.

'_Wait wait wait, d-d-don't toss me in the trash can like some cheap Halloween costume. Oy, banshee, I'm talking over here.' _

'_No, you're talking in here.' _Helga pointed to her head. _'And I would very much appreciate it if you stop.'_

'_But I can't talk to you any other way genius.'_

'_That's the point you possessed piece of plywood.' _Helga growled. _'Will you stop complaining if I took you back to that girls shop?'_

'_I won't like it too much, but it's better than being thrown in the dumpster for dogs to tear me to pieces. Dogs don't seem to like me very much. I never really got why…'_ The 'mask' trailed off. _'Fine, whatever, that girl wanted to talk to you anyway.'_

'_How do you know about her?'_

'_I woke up the second you pricked your finger on my spire, a drop of blood to get the heart going again.'_

'_You're plywood, you don't have a heart.' _

'_Your words wound me._' The mask feigned a hurt response. _'You better get going, it's getting dark.'_ Helga looked over and saw the sun starting to set.

"Fine then, let's get going." Helga spoke aloud as she started walking the same way the girl went.

**Scene Break: Midnight Sorrow**

_I slowly walk into the kitchen and wait for Anju's arrival. I'm a few minutes early__, about five minutes, but Anju is already there and from the look of things, had been for quite a while. _

"_Oh, there you are. __I__'__m sorry to trouble you late at__night. It's about him...__" She paused for a brief moment, struggling to say the name. "__Kafei.__" She got a little teary eyed. She motioned to a piece of paper on the table. _

"_I received a letter from...__" She paused again. "H__im__." She couldn't say his name this time._

"_Strange...Isn't it?__" Link looked up to see tears fall. "__Getting a letter from a missing__person...__"_

"_But there's absolutely no mistak__e that __it's from him!__" She cried out._

"_It's clear...to me...__" She said in a quiet voice. She reaches for her pocket and pulls out a letter._

"_Please!__Here is my letter.__Please put this in a postbox.__" _

"_When this is delivered...When he__receives my letter... You should be__able to meet him!__" She got a little bit louder after each pause._

"_Please tell him that Anju is__waiting for him.__And please, after you've seen__him...__Tell me how he looked.__" Her voice returned to the soft pleading that Link was hearing before._

"_I'm scared...I...I can't go.__" She looked away and her voice was so small that I could barely hear her._

"_Can I ask this of you?__" I nod, wanting to do all I could._

"_Thank you...very much.__" A smile crossed her face. She hands me the letter._

"_Please mail it immediately in the__morning__." _

**Scene 4: Will of the Bombers**

**Musical Mentions: Majora's Mask theme**

'_Oy mask, if you want to go back to the mask shop, why don't you tell me where the heck it is. The moron that left you with me didn't exactly leave a detailed map in dirt on the side of the road somewhere and the carnival grounds are freaking huge.'_ Helga had been walking around aimlessly through the streets of the carnival for an hour. What was a setting sun was now a crescent shaped moon hanging over the big-top. She tried to shut her 'new friend' out for the first half hour, but found that as worthless a venture as waking up Miriam. Though listening to the thing talk was starting to grate on her nerves.

'_How the heck should I know? What am I, a dousing mask? That's an insult to the great me.'_

'_You really do have a high opinion of yourself, considering you lack the necessary body parts to move. If it wasn't for the fact that this girl got on your nerves, I would've left you on the street somewhere for those dogs that seem to like you so much…'_

'_She gets on your nerves to, so don't act all high mighty. Honestly, the way she shifts moods so fast makes my head spin. I only saw her for a few minutes and I wanted to send her to the peak of Snowhead Temple.'_

'_Snowhead Temple?' _

'_You neither know nor need to know where that place is__,__'_ replied the mask harshly. _'and as I said before, I don't want to go back. I would prefer if you kept me, I'd get to do something besides collect dust in a showcase.__'_

'_From what you said earlier, it sounds like you weren't exactly conscious.'_ She chuckled to herself a little bit.

'_But now I'm awake, and I blame you for that.'_ The mask was not amused_. 'I can't just sit on the shelf anymore, now can I? You woke me up, and I can't go back to sleep, until force back to sleep.'_

'_Wait a minute, I can shut you up.'_ The mask decided to take the opportunity to laugh at her.

'_Yep, but you can't do it now. At the bare minimum, you're stuck with me inside your head for a month; even __**IF**__ you take me back.'_ Helga groaned.

'_Mental Ward, here I come.'_

'_Hey, I heard that. Look it's not all bad. I come with perks.'_

'_What perks?'_ Helga asked sarcastically.

'_Keep me and I'll tell you. Ya might as well keep me anyway. You can't really get rid of me, even if you take me back, and I'll make sure that you'll live through every shriek, laugh, outburst, and tear that comes from that girl.'_ This was not an experience that Helga wanted to go through, and if the mask really was stuck in her head, she didn't want to take chances.

'_I'm still finding this place. I'm just gonna steal you. I may be unpleasant, but I'm no thief.' _

'_You're already here.'_ The mask spoke and she stopped. She could swear she saw the mask smile.

_**Scene Break: The Message Sent by Mail**_

_I leave the inn and walk to the red mailbox in front of the mails office. He could follow the postman when he picked the letter up from the postbox. He would eventually lead me to Kafei, and he'd do it on time, he's always punctual to the point of obsession. I'd meet Kafei before the end of the day. I smile to myself, knowing that my hard work would soon pay off._

_**End Scene Break**_

"Oh goodie you made it!" Both Majora and Helga flinched back at her overly excited shrieks, "I was starting to get worried, it's getting dark out you know."

"Yeah, yeah I can see that sunshine, I'm here now what the hack do you want!" She was already losing patience with the girl.

"Man you have a quick temper. I guess that's to be expected of a pink banshee. Look, I want to help you fix a problem of yours." Helga bit back her angered reply when she heard those lines.

"Trouble? What Trouble? I don't have any troubles." She responded defensively. The response was a girlish giggle with a smile poking out from behind her hair.

"It's as plain as the nose on your pretty pink face. You looked to be in pain earlier, and I know you didn't just plan that paper-cut thing until after I said something; which means that you're upset by something, because you aren't doubled over in physical pain." She got up and walked to a bookshelf. She spent a moment looking through and pulled out an orange book with a red bomb on the front. She opens it to the first page. "Before you do anything though I would like to know something, could you tell me your name so I can stop calling you a pink banshee. You can just set the mask down on the table; there should be a stand to put it on." She motions to the table and then to a chair in front of her.

"Look, why should I listen or trust you. You'll probably laugh or call the funny papers. Besides only three people know about my problems and I have no intention of involving a fourth." The girl just smiled wider if at all possible.

"If you're worried about me telling anyone, you don't have to worry about that. If you want proof, you can read some of the orange books from that bookcase. Every one of them has a phone number so if you have doubts you can personally check up on me. Besides, why should I do anything bad to you, I don't even know your name!"

'_Almost everyone else seems to.' _She thought glumly. That fact rang true in her mind very few people were as nice as Phoebe or Arnold, and that kindness usually got stamped out. She sat her new friend down on the table, which he promptly complained to her about and picked out a random book from the shelf. She found one on a girl by the name of Melina.

'_Entry one - met girl just outside of a bakery with a loaf of bread in her hands. Had a frantic look on her face and seemed distracted. Clothes were raggy. No adults taking an overly large amount of attention. Upon approaching the girl I touch her shoulder to ask if she's a__l__right. She turns with fearful eyes. She tells me that she ran away from an abusive home, I ask if she asked for help, she tells me that no one seemed to believe her story.'_

'_Entry two - Upon my first approach, the home seems like a normal orphanage. It looks pleasant from the outside, inviting even. Entering the lobby gave a similar effect. The spackle seems to mask something else though, because when I asked about the girl, I saw of look of disgust cross her features before she very sweetly asked if she knew where she was. I told her that she was staying with me and my dad. I left before she asked me my name or finished dialing the phone.'_

'_Entry three __- talked with one of the older children in secret. He was worried about the girl that had left but happy that she was no longer here. He told me about the people that ran the orphanage. About how they received a fairly large check from the government for them, but how they rarely used it for them. I gave him my phone and told him to record evidence that I could take to the police._

'_Entry four - I see three people being led out of the orphanage in handcuffs, and a rather annoyed officer. Child care services got involved after the recording was left behind by a concerned citizen, three guesses as to who that was. Rather than let the place close down, they looked for someone new to run the place. They people found were the mayor's son Kafei, and his wife Anju. The girl gave me her phone number and told me to use it if I ever needed anything. (217-741-****)(_**This isn't how it looks in the book; I just don't want people calling me at odd hours of the night.**)

Helga's mouth hung agape for a long period of time. '_If everything in here is true then she's just as nice as football head.'_

'_Call, just to make sure.' _Came a voice from inside her head, she had almost forgotten about her spiny friend.

"Do you have a phone I could use?" The girl just smiled through her hair.

"Down the hall to the left, oh and if you're wondering about secrecy, these albums are from people that wanted their stories to be told. You can ask her yourself when you talk to her." Helga started walking towards the phone when she heard a familiar voice resound in her head.

'_While you're gone I can show you something that I can do to prove that you're not going insane.' _

The conversation over the phone was brief and to the point. She told her what the blonde did, and it was a recounting of what she read. What was interesting was what the mask showed her. In addition to her own view of the chipper girl's phone, she was watching the Chipper girl stare at the mask, three rooms away, as though she was looking through the mask's eyes. No way was she imagining that.

'_You like? I'm like your own built in security camera. No more Brainy incidents, no more parental interruptions during what appeared to be Deku tribal rituals, and no more fears about being found behind the trashcans behind the school. And before you ask, we basically share a mind right now.'_ The mask sounded way too happy. What made it worse was the fact that she would be forced to live through whatever the mask lived through as though it were happening to her if she forced a separation. Something she wasn't looking forward to.

Helga just walked back to the girl, slowly adjusting to the new sight. The girl never lost her smile, not even once. "I'll accept your help on one condition." The girl looked confused. "Could I perchance take that mask with me, I think I already have an idea as to want I want to do, but I need something to cover my face." 'And his help would be even more appreciated.'

"Why that's no problem at all. We have a bunch of these guys that are already freshly carved. I was looking for him 'cause we were one short. So why don't you tell me what's up?"

"I just need you to understand one thing before we talk. If you so much as tell another living soul on this planet what I disclose to you, I will wrap these hands around your neck and squeeze until your head pops off." The girl unconsciously reached for her throat and gulped.

"That's fine, I swear myself to secrecy. Now spill." She said nervously.

"You never did tell me your name you know?" She went back to smiling.

"It's Skully, Skully Taetl."

"Mine's Helga, pleased to meet ya."

**A/N – Chapter 2 is up and it took me a little longer then I thought. I'm not really sure how well I nailed down the individual characteristics but keep in mind that this is a full year after FTi. That little explosion is how I think Helga would react to a comment like that. Given her history, being ignored would be worse the being walked on. Some of their personalities may differ slightly. Be sure to review. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey Majora: The Curse of the Mask**

**Chapter 2: Anju's trouble, Entry Two**

**Scene One: A matter of pride**

**A/N- I apologize that it took me so long to update. I also apologize that this one isn't as long as the others. I'm trying to find the comfort range for my writing. Be sure to Review.**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Hew Arnold, Legend of Zelda or any of the music herein. I just own the storyline and a few OCs.**

Helga may have thought her annoying, but Skully was probably a close second to Arnold in the goody-goody department. Granted, no one was nicer then her love god, at least not from her point of view. What was creepy was that she wrote everything down in that notebook of hers. It was like someone took DNA from Phoebe and Arnold and made a creepy alien clone of what the two would be like fused together.

That being said, this was a golden opportunity for Helga. She needed some help outside of Phoebe for this to work. She had a date with tall-hair boy that night and she was not going to ruin that for her friend, despite the fact that she had no taste in boys. Skully joined the carnival from out of town, was way too nice to blow her secret sky high, and wasn't some freaky perfect person that was completely useless in a scheme.

Helga started to go over her entire relationship with Arnold, leaving out some of the more eccentric forms of tribal worship (I didn't perform any animal sacrifices, get off me). She told her about the time they met in pre-school, (She got this evil glint in her eyes after I talked about my parents, but remained silent.) She told her about the pink book, the parrot incident, the Cecile incident, and the blue hat incident, leaving out the crazy stuff. She told her about the bullying and even a few of the instances she helped Arnold. But before I could continue on to FTi, she stopped me.

"Uhh, Helga, right. I know this would probably being the hardest, most awkward thing you have ever done, but wouldn't it just be easier to tell all this stuff to Arnold. He sounds like the really nice, and I'm sure he-"

"Would freak out, ask for some space, pretend it never happened, and give you some pathetic excuse to go back to business as usual." Helga interrupted. Her head sunk lower with each word.

"Oh…" Skully said, thinking she probably should've waited to speak. Helga just smiled before speaking again.

"Arnold fell in love with me once, you know." The mask started to play back the memories as though they were happening to her again. She saw them so vividly but it seemed to happen in an instant.

'Consider this another perk.' Chuckling as he said this, the mask left her mind as quickly as it came. When she came back to reality, she came back to a perplexed Skully.

"What do you mean he was in love with you? If you had his affections why would you let that go?"

"He didn't know it was me, that's why. I was impersonating his French pen pal just so spend a night with him and pretend it was a date. I intended to tell him my secret that night, because despite the fact that it was probably the worst date in the history of dates, he still smiled and laughed and had what I assumed was a good time. That went downhill when his actual pen pal showed up, I couldn't tell him anything after that without me sounding like the nut job I really am, but I knew that he at least liked me from the meeting we shared." She left out the part that he was trying to go on a date with Ruth McDougal at the same time, as far as she was concerned, that part didn't happen.

"Well that sounds like an easy fix, all you have to do is pose as Cecile again. You could do it at the festival, though you would have to work up the courage for another revealing; this time in a setting where things couldn't possibly be misconstrued otherwise." Helga palmed her face.

"That was my plan; it's why I asked to keep the mask. Look, I don't really need that much from you. I just need you to deliver the message and watch over my shoulder to make sure I don't do anything stupid. You can't let anyone see you help me either. You think you can do that?"

"But of course, I'm a master of stealth. Plus all I have to do is throw on one of these babies and it's kind of hard to pick me out of a crowd." She smiled as she walked over to the shelf and pulled down a mask that looked like a stone. "No one will notice me unless I talk to them first. I'm assuming you don't want me seen while I deliver the message either." I shook my head no. "Well do you have a message prepared?" I shake my head no again.

"I'll come by tomorrow, you'll be here right?"

"But of course, you'll be happy to know that we're stuck here for a while. Depending on how well we do, we might take up residence." Helga grew pale at this. She was hoping she was just confiding in a passerby traveler. Someone that wouldn't even have a chance to spill the beans to anyone who would give two hoots about it. Apparently, she noticed this.

"And I told you already that I have no interest in spilling the beans. Jeez you're gonna have to tell people eventually." I smile uneasily at being caught, grab the mask, say my good-byes, and make my way out of the talking face store.

**Scene Break: Nervous Jitters**

_I decided to stop by the inn before checking back. The postman doesn't make his special deliveries until later in the day; it said so on his schedule, something he would follow to his dying breath if the moon above is any indication._

"_Oh..." Anju greeted me nervously. She looked like she hadn't gotten a single lick of sleep after our meeting, not that I blame her._

"_Did you...see him?" I shake my head no and tell her that I'll be on my way as soon as the postman made his afternoon rounds. She sighed sadly._

"_I'm sorry. It's probably too soon to ask..." I look at the clock, say my goodbyes and tell her that I'll be back in a bit._

**Scene 2: Back Alley Brawl**

'Well that was interesting.' Helga groaned at having her annoying little mask back inside her head. 'Oh don't be like that, you should be thanking me.'

'Why on earth would I do something stupid like that?' Helga fumed in her mind at the red and blue mask.

'Well, you know for a fact that I can't spill the beans, I'm a bit lacking in the speech department. This works both ways you know you can annoy the heck out of me and I can't do a dang thing about it. You have someone to vent to. Speaking of which I wonder if your father realized he left you hear yet.'

'He didn't leave me, I ditched him.' Helga said snippily.

'Didn't take much effort though, did it.' Helga could hear the mask chuckling in back of her mind. 'By the way, where are we?' Helga broke herself out of her jab session with the mask to find that she had wandered into a part of town that she didn't really like, it was were Arnold got mugged. Phoebe told me about it, she heard from Gerald.

"Hey, little girl, you lost or something?" None of those words sounded concerned. They sounded threatening. "Because here there's a toll to pass, its price varies with how much money's in your wallet."

'This is SO not what I need right now.' grumbled Helga.

'Put me on turn and face them. I'll make the guy wet his pants.'

'And why should I trust…'

"Oi, girl, are you deaf or just too scared to move. Turn around…"

'Put me on. NOW!'

"NOW!" The now resounded through her mind almost simultaneously, and from there I wasn't sure what happened. He grabbed my shoulder, I put the mask to my face, and I watched as part of his face got burned. I felt my hair stand on end, as though an electric current was passing through. It forced my pigtails apart, similar to when I was posing as Cecile and I came out of the bathroom. I didn't feel queasy this time though.

The punk scrambled back from the pain and ran as fast at his stubby little legs could carry him. The mask was cackling inside my head and I was inclined to agree with him, the mugger was just plain pathetic, and there was no sympathy to be had for him.

'I bet he'll think twice before mugging a 'poor, innocent little girl' in the dead of night again. Now then let's get back to your house so we can plan your 'love note'.' The mask sounded sarcastic.

'Keep the wisecracks up, and I'll leave you alone in the dark for a few hours.'

'But I just saved you.' whined the mask.

'Yeah, yeah, I could've handled that joker and these various 'superpowers' you seem to have incline me to keep you. That doesn't mean that you still can't be punished.

'Meany' Helga just smiled under her breath at the childish response and continued home, the mask was quiet for the remainder of the trip.

**Scene Break: Going for Broke**

_I followed the Postman to the laundry pool. I already had a general idea as to who would come out. I saw a little kid wearing a Keaton mask just wandering around out here. I figured it was a little brother or something, because he looked just like Kafei. _

"_DING-DING, MAIL CALLLLLLLLLLL!" This guy loves his job way too much. When the kid came out he didn't lock the door behind him. _

'_Pay-dirt!' I waited until he got to the postman, then I sprinted for the door. The kid noticed grabbed the letter and ran as fast as he could to get to the door first. No chance of that happening. I run as fast as I could, Tatl flying close behind with the Keaton kid a hair-breath behind her. Faster… faster… SAFE. I ran through as fast as my little legs could carry me, man I miss my adult body. _

_I rushed up the stairs only to find an empty room with a window. I look through to see the front desk of the curiosity shop. There was no one else to be seen. The boy walked into the room. He looked… defeated…_

"_I imagine you're both looking for Kafei, correct?" We nod our heads in response, thinking that we just turned up another dead end._

"_Well…" The boy paused, he looked positively petrified. His arms seemed so lethargic as he reached up to his mask. I gasped a little as he took it off._

"_I am Kafei." I guess his thoughts were the same as mine when we were running for the front door._

**Scene 3: Home Life**

"Bob, Miriam, I'm home!" I yell as I come through the door. Bob was on the recliner 'watching the wheel.' He grunted in response, to entranced by his TV to say anything. Well, there was one thing…

"Oi, Olga could you grab me some more chips from the kitchen, I thing Miriam fell asleep in there again." And there he goes; I didn't bother to correct him. I just didn't really care anymore.

'Jerk' was the faint whisper I heard from the mask. I'm not really surprised Bob didn't notice the facial accessory I was wearing. Oblivious was the dial he was set to. I smile to myself and walk to the kitchen. Maybe Miriam was out cold and I could pilfer her purse for bus money tomorrow.

"Oh, hi sweetie how was your trip to the fair?" Miriam asked as I walked through the door. I curse inwardly at the fact that she was up and around, why couldn't she be sleeping off a hangover. That would make this so much easier to deal with. The mask chuckles and I throw out a few death threats to shut him up.

"Well I got mugged on the way home after dad left at the fairgrounds. Oh, and I got this awesome demonic mask from a girl with purple hair name Skully." I say in a sincere sing-song voice.

"That's nice, dear." She sound's distant before passing out on the counter.

'Really? I don't know which of them is worse.' Muttered the mask.

'At least they don't physically attack me. I got that going for me at least. I'm surprised you didn't bring anything up about the demonic mask comment.'

'Really, I can't say much about it.'

'You don't seem demonic.'

'I went through a brief purge recently. All I have left is my wit and since of sarcasm.' Helga chuckled at his brief bolstering. 'Also, as a point of future reference, I'm a girl.'

'But… your voice… it sounds so… emasculate. I didn't even think masks had genders.' Helga gaped.

'Let's just get on with the mushy letter writing. I'm not good at this kind or stuff.' Helga heard what she assumed was a sigh as she pulled out a few ones. She grinned and headed up to her room.

**A/N-Be sure to review and tell me what you think.**


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